Method of locating subterranean strata.



. H. mm. METHOD OF LOGATING SUBTERRANEAN STRATA. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, 1912.

1,045,575, Patented Nov. 26, 1912.

' I v UNITED sTAT s PATENT OFFICE;

. nnnvnrcfirijwr, or eom'rrlv'enn; GERMANY,

METHOD or Locsrme suiz'rEnnANEAN s'rnA'rA;

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HEINRICH residing at 5 Biihlstrasse, Gottingen, Germany, have invented certain new and .useful Improvements in Methods of Locattaining the presence or absence and the position of subterranean strata or bodies of useful substances'such as'water, ore and such like by means of 'electrica'lfwaves. I have found by experiment that, contrary to opinions hitherto usually entertained,'elec-.

trical waves easily pass for considerable distances through the interior of the earth, provided that the substancesconstituting the parts traversed by the-electrical waves are nonconductors of electricity or at any rate possess a sufliciently low conductivity; Gonductive substances. on the otherv hand, as is well. known, act as reflectors of electrical waves striking their surfaces. 'Thus,.1f electrical waves are transmitted through the interior of .the earth from its. surface downward or in any other direction, they will be reflected and 'will. retu1"n, whenever they strike conductive strata'o'r bodies, such as .in emitting eleetricalwaves from one point.

for instance strata containing water or ore.-

This discovery can be utilized to'ascertain thepresence and'posltioncf such strata-by ordinary trigonometric calculations.

For this purpose my invention consists of the earths surface'and receivingithem at another. point .'the distance between 'b0th mitting station will spread out,,not only through the surrounding air,v but also through the interior-of the earth and if electrically conducting strata are present in gthevicinity of the place selected for the investigation, the receiverwill indicate the Specification of -Lett'ers Patent.

v LoWY,a subject of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor,"

efl'ect of waves received directly, or in a Patented Nov.26, 1912. p Application filed June 's,' 1'912. Seria1No.701,373.

practically straight line, from the transmit ter and simultaneouslyof other waves that have (pierced the surface and have been re-' flecte from the condu'ctlve strata situated two systems of waves may be made toprobelow the surface.v At the receiver these r duce interferences and, by observingthese interferences and either varyingthe wave- ,lengths employed or'the distance between the transmitting and I receiving station, data i can be gathered from which not only the presence but alsoxthe position ofsubter' ranean conductive strata can be determined by a comparatively simple calculation. Ex:

pressed in other words, the practicalroper ationconsists in varying the conditions of transmissioninsuch a manneras to-enable the observation of definite phase relations between the direct and the reflectedfwaves.

1 The accompanying drawing illustrates.

In the present invention I-measure; 4

nyknown means as for instance by a chain j.

a distance at on the surface and at each end thereofI provide antennae such as S and I .prefer to place both antennae horizontally i I as by s tretching out. a wire along the ground and 1n such a position that: they .'are 'subs tantially parallel to each other. .But according to circumstances their relative positions to each other and to the surface of the earth can be varied without departing 'from'myj invention. With-the antenna SI connect I apparatus (not shown) for generating'and transmitting electrical waves and with the antenna 'E 'I connect other apparatus-like-.

{wise not shown for receiving electrical.

waves.- Ithen cause electrical waves to be emitted from S and produce interferences between" the waves directly transmitted to. the receiver in thedirection of a and those I reflected from the surface W, -W'of thecon- .ductivepstratum, as by varying the length of'the emittedwaves orby varying-the distance a between the transmitting and receiving stations. Thev reflection of the waves follows the usual law; that is, the angles of incidence and reflection are equal.

In a typical example, the trial distance between .the sending and receiving stations may be say 1000 meters and the antennae employed may be 50 meters or more in length. It is found best to employ relatively long waves in order to minimize the disturbing efi'ects of irregularities in the surface of the reflecting stratum. Wave lengths of 400 or 500 meters are sufiieiently great for this purposes under-ordinary circumstances.

Interferences of the waves arriving directly from S and the waves piercing the earth'and arriving at E after being reflected from the surface W, W of the conductive stratum at P are indicated by a minimum or a, maximum current effect at the receiver. At the receiving station the values of the currents thus induced may be observed, for example, with the aid of a quantitative detector and an indicating galvanometer.

Inpractice, an operator-at the sending station S may send signals of a convenient known wave length to E where the value of the current induced is observed and recorded. The operator at S then sends signals of a somewhat different wave length, the corresponding current value being noted at Er; Thus by gradually varying the wave lengths sent from S a series of difi'erent resents the difference between the distance current strengths may be obtained and noted at E, and this series will 'show recurring maxima and minima. The wave lengths 7G and 7? for any two consecutive interference maxima or minima can, of course, be ascertained by comparing the data. recorded at the sending station and that recorded at the receiving station. Having these wave lengths and knowing the straight-line distance between the stations, the depth of the subterranean reflecting surface can be readily computed as shown hereinafter.

Let the distanceSPE equal 1). If A reptraveled by a wave in passing directly from S to E and that. traveled by a wave from S reaching E after reflection at P then are whence by eliminatingb, the depth h'of the reflectlng stratum may be ascertained by the formula:

But

' in which a is the horizontal distance of the two stations S and E and in which it is supposed that the' surface of the conductive stratum W, W is parallel to the surface G, G of the earth. Should it not be parallel the second formula will have to be modified according to known rules of trigonometry.

For the interference minimaproduced by two consecutive wave lengths A and ll l /l A must be equal to a whole number of half wave lengths l A or and when the minima are immediately successive, the number of such half wave lengths corresponding to A, expressed in terms of ll difl'ers by Z from the same'distance expressed in terms of where n is a whole number. By, -eliminating n it follows that A A A By observing )3 and k and computing therefrom the value of A the value of h is readily obtained. a

The foregoing discussion assumes a specific case for the sake of simplicity and for the purpose of developing a formula which gives, within the limits of error, the 'maximum depth at which the reflecting surface ofthe conductive stratum in each particu-.

. nature of this locus is apparent from the following considerations: In an ellipsoid of revolution the radii. from the foci to any given point on the surface of the ellipsoid make equal angles with the plane tangent to the ellipsoid at that'point; and the sum of the lengths of the radii at any point on the surface is a constant. It follows therefore that if waves of energy emanate in straight lines from one focus'to the inner surface of the ellipsoid, they will be reflected to the other focus; and it alsofollows that the length of the paths traveled by such waves in passing from one focus to the other will be constant. Applying these facts to the present case, it is clear that in general the point on the. surface of the conductivestratum from which waves are reflected to surface of an ellipsoid of revolution of which the sending and receiving stations are the foci; or, in. other words, the conductiwa" stratum must be tangentto such an 'ellipsoid. The half minor axis of this ellipsoid may be determined. from. the Y formula developed difference between the distance a separating the stations or the foci of the ellipsoid and the constant sum 1) of the lengths of the radii at the point of tangene for all points on the surface of the ellipsoid, including the points at which planes parallel to the straight line connecting the stations are tangent to the ellipsoid. Consequently, since A and a are both known, h is. determinable from theformula, and represents the half minor axis of the ellipsoid of which the stations are the foci and to which the conductive stratum is tangcntfat some point on the approximate half ellipsoid: {below the a ground.

It is to be noted that two important results have thus been attained by carrying out the method as abovedescribed. First, the presence of a conducting stratum has been detected, and-second, the; maximumdepth below the ground at which the tangency of the stratum to the ellipsoid locus can occur has been ascertained. This information enwater-- of ore stratum more definitely. Where-k is found to be excessively great further trouble and expense are thus saved. l After the presence of the conductive 0 stratum and its general locus have'b een determined in the mannerabove set forth, its

location can be ascertained more exactly in various ways as for example by swingingth'e horlzontal receiving antenna in a horizontal I). planearound the receivmg instrument and observing the value of the receiving current culating theresults of theobservations may be employed as dictated by individual circumstances and as will readily present themselves to the .mind of persons conversant with art of wireless telegraphy.

' Having nowparticularly described and ascertained the nature ofmy' said invention hereinbefore; for A, which is simply the," a

' receiving means interferences between the is a constant ables one to determine whether or not it is 0 probably worth while to try to locate the and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim 1s: 'the receiving station must be-located on the 1; The method of ascertaining the presence and approximate location of electrically -conductive subterranean strata which comprises placing on thesurfaceof the earth at a known distance apart means for transmitting and means for receiving electrical Waves, emitting electrical waves from the transmitting 'means, and observ ng at the Waves transmitted directly from the transmitting means and those reflected from the Y conductive stratum, whereby the location of the stratum may be calculated from the a data observed.

2. The method of ascertaining the presence and approximate'location of electrically conductive'subterranean strata which com- I prises placing onthe' surface of the earth in a substantially horizontal position antennae at a known distance from and substantially parallel to each other, emitting electrical waves from one antenna and observing at the other interferencesbetween the waves received directly from the first antenna and the waves received indirectly therefrom by 4 reflection from a subterranean stratum, whereby the location of the stratum may be calculated. from the data observed. 3.The method'of'ascertairiing the presence and approximate location-of electrically conductive subterranean strata which comprises placing onthesurface ofthe earth at a known distance apart means for transmit- 1'00 ting and means for receiving electrical waves,'enntting electrlcal waves of dilferent lengths from the transmitting means, and

observing at the receiving means the corresponding values of the currents induced thereby at the said receiving means, whereby interferences between the waves received at the receiving means directly from the transmitting means and those received after 're- 7 flection from a subterranean conductive stratum may be detected and the location of.

such stratum may be calculated. 4:.The method of detecting conductive subterranean strata which comprises transmitting wireless waves of known length be 116 tween stationsat points above the sup-posed location of such a stratum and at a known distance apart, and varying transmission conditions until the existence or nonexistence of interferences with waves trans- 120 n'iitted directly betweenthe stations by waves reflected upwardly. from suchstratum is ascertained.

5. The method of'detecting and locating conductive subterranean strata which com- 1 prises transmitting wireless ;.-waves of known length between stations at'points above the supposed location of such a stratum and at a known distance apart, and varying transmission conditions until the existence of inand then further varying such transmission conditions until a definite phase relation is and the reflected waves, whereby the maximum possible depth of the reflecting surface.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my lnvention, have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

terferences with waves transmitted directly between the stations by waves reflected upwardly from such a stratum is ascertained,

H NRY HASPER,' I

of'such a stratum can be determined. WOLDEMARV HAUPT.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1, C4:5,575, granted November 26, 1912, upon the application of Heinrich Lowy. of Gottingen, Germany for an u i 7 I improvement in Methods of Locating Subterranean Strata, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as'follows: Page 2, line 93-94 f the I v r A1 A2 ALYZ iommm 4 Afikam d g and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed and sealed this 31st day of DecemberJA. D.., 1912.

c. C.BILLINGS,'

Acti/ng Commissioner of Patents.

[snark] 

